A similar type of activating device is known to the applicant, for instance, from patent documentation DE 102 52 009 B4. The known actuator device comprises a selector lever which is movable in a selector lane, between an automatic shift lane and a sequence shift lane. The known actuating device also comprises a kinematic transmitter having a shift carriage for a detachable coupling of the selector lever motion to a transmission-transmitter element, for instance towards a gear shift rod or towards a pull cable link connected with the transmission.
It is required in such conventional generic actuating devices, which have an automatic shift lane as well as a sequence shift lane, that the mechanical link, needed to actuate the transmission in the automatic shift lane between the selector lever and the transmission, always open at the point when the selector lever is positioned in the tipping lane or sequential shift lane, respectively, since transmitting the shift commands to the transmission in the sequential shift lane do not—like in the automatic shift lane—happen mechanically but via electrical or electronic means. To provide smooth motion of the selector lever and to avoid, at the same time, unwanted changes of the gear position while the selector lever is moved in the sequential shift lane, there is a mechanical separation in the generic actuating devices between the selector lever and transmission transmitter or a pull cable link, respectively.
At the same time, it is necessary to inhibit kinematic separation, by the selector lever, of the transmission-transmitter element, for instance the pull cable link, with the transmission as long mechanically until the transmitting element, upon return of the selector lever into the automatic shift lane, is again kinematically coupled with the selector lever.
The known state of the art actuating devices achieve detachable, kinematic coupling between the selector lever and the transmission-transmitting element—meaning mostly the transmission pull cable link—and also, at the same time, the locking or blocking of the transmitting elements, when the selector lever is disengaged and positioned in the sequential shift lane, often through an elaborate locking configuration.
Specifically, the state of the art tries to separate the mechanical link between the selector lever with the shift carriage or transmission-transmitting element, respectively, with one and the same sideway lever motion of the selector lever—along the selector lane between the automatic shift lane and the sequence shift lane, as well as additionally and, at the same time, to lock the shift carriage or the transmission-transmitter, respectively, relative to the enclosure of the actuation device, therefore locking it against actuation or sliding.
Such kinematic release of the selector lever from the shift carriage, and the simultaneous blocking of the shift carriage, relative to the enclosure of the actuating device, leads to configurations known art with mechanically complicated and sophisticated blocking mechanisms with numerous meshing parts. Hereby, it is also required, due to potentially larger misapplied forces by the selector lever, that especially the blocking configuration needs to be designed as very robust, causing the use of more expensive parts.
Another problem of the described, known actuating devices is the fact that, because of a robust design and construction of the blocking mechanism, due to potentially larger forces, the selector lever kinetics becomes stiffer and requires more force, therefore, reducing the ease of use.